
ADDRESS 



DKHVEHKD BEFORE T}IK 



lAQUIDNEOK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



AT THEIR ANNUAL EXJIIBITION. 



1853, 






THOMAS R. HAZARD, 



Of Portsmouth, R. 1. 



PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY 
BY 

CRANSTON & NORMAN 

NEWPORT, R. I. 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



AQUIDNECK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



AT THEfR ANNUAL FJiHIBlTION. 



1853, 






THOMAS [I. HAZARD, 



or Ponsmoudt. R. I. 



PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY 

BY 

CRANSTON & NORMAN, 

NEWPORT, R. I. 



^^^."^ 



,v\^^ 



Secretary's Office, 9th month, 14th, 1853. 
At a meeting of the Aquidneck Agricultural Society, held Monday, the 
12th inst., it was voted unanimously, That the thanks of this Society are 
due to Thomas R. Hazard, Esq., for his able and appropriate address, 
delivered before them on the 8th inst. And that Messrs. Joshua Cogge- 
shall and Nathaniel Greene be, and they are hereby appointed a Committee 
to present a copy of this vote, and request a copy of the address for pub- 
lication. 

With respect, &c. 

JOSEPH C. IjENNIS, Sec'y, 
Thomas R. Hazard, Esq., 

Portsmouth, |t. J. 



ADDRESS. 



Having, perhaps without sufficient reflection, been induced to 
promise your Committee of Arrangements, that, in case they 
should fail in procuring the services of some more competent per- 
son to address you on this occasion, that I would endeavor to sketch 
out in writing a few hints and suggestions for your consideration • 
and having learned that the efforts of your Committee to procure 
the services of such an individual, has not been attended with 
success, I am compelled, most reluctantly, to attempt to execute 
a task that I feel I am by no means qualified to discharge, either 
to my own or to your satisfaction. What I shall suggest will, 
doubtlessly, sound very homely and unscientific in the ears of 
many, and will, in fact, partake more of the character of a plain 
farmer's chimney corner talk, than that of the usual learned dis- 
course that is expected on such occasions as this. 

Owing to the more free circulation of papers devoted to th0 
subject, or from other causes, a new impulse has been given to 
agriculture in this part of the State, within the last few years. 
This augurs well for the community. There is no State in this 
Union in which the signs of the times indicate, so emphatically, 
the necessity of strengthening its conservative basis — a farming 
population— as in this. The time may be nearer at hand than is 
suspected by many, when Rhode Island will be forced to turn with 
beseeching look to the tillers of her land, irrespective of partyj 



to shield her cherished institutions from the crafty approaches of' 
the emmissaries of a foreign despot, led on to the accomplishment 
of their unhallowed designs by lucre-loving, power-seeking Cata- 
lines, born and nurtured on American soil. I trust that hereafter, 
instead of beholding the sons of farmers, of this vicinity, desert- 
ing the plough and congregating in the workshops, and tape-shops, 
and candy-shops of our cities and towns, that they will more gen- 
erally apply their energies to the advancement of that most pleas- 
ing, healthful and honorable of all employments — the cultivation 
and improvement of the earth. 

Whilst I would by no means discourage the adoption of any or 
of all the theories that are advanced at the present day in relation 
to agriculture, I would, at the same time, recommend that farm- 
ers should not be too hasty in deciding on their respective merits, 
but that as a general rule, they should first test them by actual 
experiment on a small scale and, in the language of Paul, " Prove 
all things, and hold fast that which is good." Head work and 
hand work are both essential to the prosperity of the farmer, but 
then they should always work in couples and learn of each other. 
The capital of the farmer who works only with his head will be 
very like to be soon exhausted, whilst that of him who works only 
with his hands will be but little productive. 

"We have most of us heard of the old farmer who, when on 
his death bed, was asked by his sons to reveal to them the secret 
of his unusual success in farming, whose answer was contained in 
two words only, twice repeated. " Feed high — feed high." And 
let me ask, is there a person now present who can refer to a sin- 
gle instance within his knowledge where an industrious, prudent 
farmer, who practiced this advice, was ever compelled to emi- 
grate to the new countries, or to seek his fortune in California, for 
the reason that he could not make a comfortable living at home? 
Feed your stock high, and feed your land high, and in the end it 
will be sure to pay. We have here no rich alluvials like the 
the bottom lands of Mississippi noiv are, and like those of the 



5. 

Mohawk once were — and then deemed to be so inexhaustible that 
farmers were wont to remove their barns instead of their manure 
heaps ; but now, after following the stripping system for scarce a 
century, their barns are left empty, — their soil, rich as it for- 
merly was, has become Ayorn and exhausted. It used to be a say- 
ing of the late Elisha R. Potter, that strong minded son of Rhode 
Island, of the genuine stamp, that iSew England was designed by 
nature for the sheep pasture of* the United States. It is true that 
such is the character of its soil by nature, but the industry and 
intelligence of its farmers may yet convert it into a garden, in 
spite of every obstacle. Whatever may be the case in other lands, 
our crops in Rhode Island are mainly the product of manure, not 
of the soil. But some may ask how are we to obtain this ma- 
nure ? I answer, that every farmer whose land is already in 
good tilth, has it on his own premises, and if he follows the sys- 
tem of agriculture that should be adhered to by all of us, who do 
not live in localities where manure can be readily and cheaply ob- 
tained, he has it in his power not only to keep his farm from de- 
teriorating without expending a dollar in the purchase of manure, 
but even cause it to annually improve in productiveness. And 
how, some may ask, is this to be accomplished ? I answer, by 
"feeding high." Feed all your crops on your land — instead of 
selling grain, hay, stl-aw, &c., sell beef, pork, mutton, lamb, 
wool, butter, cheese, poultry, eggs, &c., &c. But some will say, 
by following this system our crops will not turn us more than 
two-thirds in market we now get for them ! Well, what and if they 
do not in market? if, in the end, they will turn to a greater 
amount on your own farm, and besides save a great deal of trou- 
ble. A large amount of labor may thus be saved — a difficult 
article now to be procured. No carting of heavy materials to 
market — no drawing of heavy manure for miles and miles, and 
for months and months — you may dispense with half your team, 
and half your blacksmith and wheelwright bills. 

What is manure 7 It is not necessarily muck as some seem to 



think it must be to give it value. A bushel of corn, passed 
through the body of an animal and supplied to the land, may fur- 
nish manure sufficient to produce another bushel and something 
over. If it is not so, it would seem that the soil of the world would, 
in time, be entirely worn out — by little and little, it would all go 
into the ocean. Both plants and animals doubtlessly derive a 
large portion of their nourishment from the atmosphere. The 
poison of the one is the food of the other. Now, what I want to 
suggest is, that some of our larmers should institute a system of 
experiments by which they may ascertain to a certainty which is 
the best system to pursue — whether to sell off their crops and 
buy manure, or to feed out their crops and not to buy manure 7 
Try the experiment methodically on a small scale— they will then 
be convinced which is best. 

There used to be a good old farmer and a good old man, too, 
who formerly lived near Worden's Pond in Narragansett, who 
used to say that he was aware that he knew but little, but what 
he did know, he knew sartain. Now I want that us farmers 
should know what we do know about the principles of agricul- 
ture, sartain. Theory teaches many good things, and I would 
have no man to despise it ; but yet there is nothing like experi- 
ence to teach sartainties. Now I propose to you a theory, viz : 
That if crops of grain or vegetable food, after being passed 
through the body of any animal, be all returned to the same soil 
on which it grew, that the land, so far from being deteriorated by 
its production, will actually be additionally fertilized. To estab- 
lish the truth or fallacy of this theory, let some judicious farmer 
select, say an acre of land, already in good tilth, and experiment 
upon it after such a fashion as his own judgment may dictate, or 
after the following method : Commence with spreading the acre 
of land well over with manure, say eight or ten cords of barn- 
yard. Some prefer doing this in the Fall, some in the Spring. 
You will probably find it to be most effective if spread in the 
Fall, especially if put on pretty lat© in thje seasoa, notwithatand- 



ing theories to the contrary, particularly if the soil has a clay 
foundation. In the Spring plough the land pretty deep, that is, 
about twice the depth land skinners generally do. Harrow it 
most thoroughly with a long-toothed, heavy harrow, such as not 
less than four oxen should draw, if the harrow be of ordinary 
dimensions. A thorough harrowing will save half the expense 
and time in hoeing. If the land be dry and lumpy, roll it — if 
not, simply bush it. Put in the corn with a planting machine, 
say three feet between the rows, and a little less distance in the 
rows — three or four grains in a hill, besides one or two extra for 
the birds and worms. When these processes are all completed 
the crop is more than half raised. As soon as the corn is up so 
that the rows can be distinctly seen, cultivate it out from two to 
four times in a row according to the nature of the soil and the 
amount of weeds and grass. Do not delay to do this early* "A 
stitch in time saves nine." Weed the bills with a hoe, but do 
not waste tirne by meddling with the earth in the middle of the 
rows. Repeat the process of cultivating and hoeing once or twice 
more in the same manner ; the more the ground is stirred, if 
every day, the better the plants will grow. Never draw any dirt 
around the hill after the first and second hoeing, and then but very 
little. Some farmers are fond of drawing all the dirt from the 
piiddle of the rows and heaping it up about the stalks of the corn, 
just as its roots have gone in quest of nourishment abroad. This 
is a capital method to make corn stalks as big as bean poles, and 
beautiful long cobs with here and there a grain on their butt end. ' 
A better way still to insure such a result, is to put all the manure 
in the hill, especially if the land itself be poor, in which case the 
plants shoot ahead wonderfully in the early part of the season, 
and looks beautifully. Like the prodigal son, it feasts luxuri- 
pusly in its youth, on the heap of manure at its roots ; but alas, 
in its riper age, when nourishment is needed to form the ear, the 
jnanure is exhausted ; it has all gone into a useless stalk. In- 
stead of putting the^^elves ft)rt;h in ^earcJi of material ^o t^'ansT 



mute into grain, the roots are drawn up in a gordian knot, and 
cling like the hand of a drowning man to the handful of exhaust- 
ed manure. 

But to return from this digression. As soon as the grain is 
glazed in the Fall, say about the 10th of the ninth month, (nick- 
named September by heathens of old,) cut up the corn by the 
ground, as it is called, and put it in small shocks, as fast as it is 
cut, never letting it wilt in the least ; if you do the grain will 
shrink. Shake the shocks well down on the ground where the 
corn grew, that the butt ends of the stalks may penetrate a little 
into the earth. Never on any account shock it on greensward, 
if you do it will be sure to mould. As a means of keeping the 
shocks up, take at proper distances, two hills of corn in opposite 
rows, bend them over and twist their tops together so that they 
will form an arch ; set up the corn, as you cut, on each side of the 
arch. It will both furnish support and ventillation. Occasion- 
ally, from day to day, cast your eye over the field, and if you 
see that any of the shocks have fallen down, leave all other con- 
cerns except meeting- and milking, and put them up at once, tak- 
inof care to set the fallen shocks against others that are leaning, 
which will keep them up, and by this time the stalks will have 
become sufficiently seasoned to bear the shocks to be doubled 
without causing injury. By a little care in this respect both corn 
and fodder will be preserved from damage by the weather. In about 
one month, nut longer, from the time the corn is cut up, cart it to- 
gether, but no faster than it can be husked and the fodder stacked. 
Do not let the fodder lie longer thi^n is absolutely necessary. 
It should be thrown on the stack every few hours ; this will pre- 
serve its sweetness, and this is, also, n^uch the readiest and cheap- 
est way to secure it. Besides this, the value of thp fodder, over 
and above what it would be worth if put up after the mussing, 
helter-skelter fashion of some land tormenters, will more than 
pay the whole cost of harvesting. Corn fodder should never be 
put in large stacks. One load in each is a sufficient quantity ; 



9 

and bj all means ventilate it with a pole in the middle. If con- 
venient, put a little brush under each stack. Bj adhering to this 
method, a lot of fodder will be secured equal to the best of hay. 
I have had as many as ninety such stacks put up in one season, 
and I do not think that there were ten fork-fulls of it AYasted 
in feeding ; from the top to the bottom, it was all good. When 
husked, the corn should be suflFered to lie upon the ground one or 
two weeks before being cribbed. If occasionally stirred with a 
rake after rain, there is no danger of its taking damage. Corn 
cut up by the ground I have found to make sweeter meal than 
that which has been topped and left to stand late in the field, and 
the fodder is worth double. Besides this, by following the first 
method, harvest is got out of the Avay before the weather gets 
cold, and the boys may be packed off to school of a morning, in- 
stead of being sent to blow their fingers over a frosty corn heap. 
By using a peg the difference of expense in husking the corn that 
is cut up by the ground and shocked, is scarcely perceptible from 
that which is topped and left to stand later in the field. But 
without the use of a husking-peg the difference is greatly in fa- 
vor of the latter. 

"Well, now that the crop is harvested, and the fodder all secured, 
turn to the account that you have kept and reckon the amount of 
labor that you have expended, team work and all, and if your 
land is free and good, you will probably find it to amount to 
about twenty-five cents per bushel, not more. Mind that you 
keep an exact account of every hour and charge for board and 
lodging of hands in the bargain. This will be about the cost of 
your corn, independent of rent and manure ; mind you independent 
of manure — there is the rub. That is what makes Indian corn 
so expensive a crop to raise with us — the cost of manure ; and 
this expense I want to see dispensed with, and I think that it may 
be to advantage. 

Now that we have found what the acre of corn has cost us, let us 
ascertain what it will net us if fed out on the ■ftirm. To ascertain 
2 



10 

it by one experiment, purchase, or prize at a fair value a f'6w 
hogs. Shut them up on a few loads of earth, taken fron the field 
where the corn grew, from back furrows or elsewhere as is most 
convenient. Feed the whole crop of corn to these hogs and then 
sell them, or prize them again,— the difference will show the net 
value of the corn, independent of the manure it makes. Be care- 
ful in selecting your hogs, otherwise the experiment may totally 
fail on this account. There are two breeds of the animal in the 
world — the one appears to have been destined by nature for the 
production of bacon, the other, of bristles. A gentleman of my 
acquaintance, celebrated for many scientific attainments — Z. Al- 
len, of Providence — was, a few years since, presented with a pig, 
brought by a ship from round the Horn, which was represented 
to be of a remarkable breed. Mr. Allen caused the hog to be 
well fed and cared for during the space of a twelvemonth, at 
about which time his friend, R. J. Arnold, having engaged in a 
little amateur farming, happened to mention to Mr. Allen that 
he was desirous of completing his fancy stock by the addition of 
an imported swine. The latter gentleman at once kindly volun-^ 
teered to accommodate his friend with his South Sea specimen, 
which he assured Mr. Arnold possessed qualities of the most ex- 
traordinary character. Fearful that his friend from motives of 
delicacy might decline availing himself of his offer, Mr. Allen, 
shortly after dispatched his swineship to Mr. Arnold's farming 
establishment, accompanied with a polite note saying that he 
would leave the fixing of its price to his friend's own generosity j 
after he had sufficiently tested the properties of his prize. " Re- 
markable," after being carefully weighed and ensconced in com- 
fortable quarters, was most luxuriously fed and cared for. In 
taking an account of stock at the end of the year, in order to as- 
certain the profits of the farm, the hog was again placed on the 
balance and was found to have increased in weight precisely two 
pounds, which Mr. Arnold, in comparing notes with its former 
possessor, was gratified to learn was just double what had been 



11 

its increase during the twelvemonth preceding the day that the 
rare quadruped came into his possession. Now, notwithstand- 
ing the many attainments of these two gifted gentlemen, I could 
never discover from their manner of relating the incident, that it 
had ever occurred to either of them, that in the prosecution of their 
experiments, they had both been misled by looking after wrong 
results — -seeking for pork Avhere nature intended bristles only 
should be produced : the animal, in all probability, having found 
its way to this country, by the way of the South Seas, from Si- 
beria, or the northern parts of Russia, where a peculiar breed is 
kept in those inhospitable regions solely for the production of bris- 
tles. Both Mr. Allen and Mr. Arnold inform me that the crea- 
ture seemed to divide time in about two equal portions, one of 
which it devoted to eating, the other to squealing ; and it is possi- 
ble that the last mentioned musical propensity grew out of the 
promptings of instinct and was meant to indicate to the care-takers 
of the Siberian exile that it was high time he was shaved. 

Feed the fodder out and keep the manure separate from all 
other, taking care that there is enough soil put under the latter 
to save all the urine, and litter them with the refuse stalks. Then 
ascertain what the keeping of the cattle has been worth to you, 
whilst Consuming the acre of fodder. And now for a second year's 
experiment on the same acre of land. If it be heavy clay land, 
plough it up in the fall, if not, in the spring, and let the plough 
run a little deeper than the year before, so that it will bring the 
old manure to the surface. In the spring harrow the ground 
once over, and spread all the manure, made from the corn crop, 
evenly over the surface — sow it with oats and plough them lightly 
in, and lay down well with plenty of hay seed, finished oif by 
rolling, which will press all the old corn stubbs and small stones 
in the ground and out of the way of the scythe. Rolling also 
helps to make the hay seed take. When the oats are fit for the 
scythe, cut them and put them up, and feed them in the straw 
to cattle or sheep, shut up so that the manure may be kept apart 



12 

from all other, with sufficient sand or earth beneath it to save 
liquids, which is far the most valuable part. In the spring 
spread the manure made from the oat crop evenly over the sur- 
fice of the same land again — always remembering that the finer 
manure is pulverized, the more nourishment it will afford to the 
growino- crop, just as less weight of meal will fatten a hog than 
of uno-round corn. Then proceed in the same manner with two 
years crops of hay as with the corn and oat crops, after which 
another corn crop may be taken from the land, and so in rotation 
as before. A few years experience will enable a judicious farmer to 
ascertain by such a course of experiments, rigidly pursued, Avhether 
his land will grow better or worse under this system of treatment, 
and whether it is more or less profitable than it is to sell off his 
crops and to purchase manure. If he finds that his land is the 
most profitable when its crops are returned to it after being fed 
out, and that it rather improves than deteriorates under this sys- 
tem, he will doubtlessly continue to pursue it and find it a far 
less troublesome method of farming than to sell his vegetable and 
grain crops and buy and cart manure, especially if he lives in a 
part of the country distant from large towns or sea weed shores, and 
where manure cannot be readily obtained. My own belief is that 
experiments would show results much in favor of the system of 
feeding out crops, especially in parts of the country where there 
is a market for fresh provisions, poultry, eggs, wool, &c., and 
should this prove to be true, the farmer may pursue the system 
with safety, as a general rule, without subjecting himself to the 
inconvenience of confining his experiment to given portions of 
his farm, as in the long run every part would receive its fair pro- 
portion of the manure derived from crops, even though it should 
not be always expended on the exact spot where they grew. Far- 
mers might then plant as much as they choose to, secure in the 
knowledge that so long as the crops were returned to the soil it 
would continue to improve rather than to wear out. My im- 
pression is that in most neighborhoods in Rhode Island, the ma- 



13 

nure made from a bushel of corn, carefully saved, is worth not 
less than twenty-five cents, and that from a ton of oats or hay, 
not less than from six to seven dollars. A ton of straw would 
probably be of nearly the same value as a ton of hay/or"manure, 
for the reason that more of the substance of the hay goes to the 
nourishment of the animal. If some farmers who seem to value 
straw lightly would spread a ton of it over an acre of moist mead- 
ow they might be astonished at the result, and find at mowing 
time that it had been transformed into nearly the same quantity 
of good hay, besides leaving the soil better than it was before. 
By actual experiment a ton of ribbonweed when thoroughly dried 
is found to weigh but about two ^hundred pounds. Independent 
of the salt it contains, there is no good reason to suppose that the 
dry ribbon weed is worth 'more pound for pound as manure 
than the straw weed. If it is [not, then if we analyze the sea 
weed and find Avhat salts it contains and add them to the straw 
we have the same value in manure in about two hundred pounds 
of the latter, as an e have in the two thousand pounds of ribbon 
weed, the remaining eighteen hundred pounds being merely fresh 
water, which perhaps had occupied the labor of a man^and team 
nearly a day in dragging home from the shore. I wish that far- 
mers would think of these things and experiment upon them. A 
large team, kept constantly on the road, will of itself in time 
impoverish a small farm, unless it is replenished with manure 
from elsewhere. Six oxen will consume in twelve months at least 
an amount of food equal to thirty tons of hay. One half of this 
will be lost on the road if the team is kept there one third of the 
time, only at six dollars per ton this would show a loss of manure 
from the farm to the value of ninety dollars in twelve months. 
And so with driving cattle off the farm to water, on which par- 
ticular occasions, as all farmers know, cattle drop a very undue 
portion of manure when compared with the time. An old horse, 
if left to stand day after day, the year about, round the corner 
of the tavern gr the grog shop, as I have sometime^ seen, will. 



14 

in that period, carry from the farm some ten or twelve dollars 
worth of manure. Think of these things, farmers, and do not 
send six oxen to town with an empty cart, or the same number to 
work in mending the road when a pair or two less Avould answer 
equally well, and save manure if nothing else. 

Farmers should be careful not to squander much manure on 
leechy or spongy soils ; if they do the greater part of it will be 
lost. I remember now more than thirty years since, walking over 
a field in South Kingston, along with the late Thomas G. Haz- 
ard, long disceased, who was perhaps the best farmer of his day 
in Rhode Island, and a thorough bred gentleman of the old school. 
He was grand ancestor to the present I. Alfred Hazard, and a host 
of others of the same self-willed, self-thinking race, of whom it 
is said, that there never yet assembled a legislature in Rhode 
Island, that did not reckon among its members at least one ugly 
customer of the name. The field I allude to, lies a little to the 
east of Peacedale, and contains some ten or twelve acres. As Ave 
walked along the old man paused, and striking his cane on the 
ground, said, "Waste no manure here, cousin Tom. This is 
spongy soil. I have have marked that land ever since. I have 
seen it covered again and again with manure, inches thick. It 
lias contiguous to large woolen mills that afford quantities of the 
best of manure, and enough has been spread on the lot within my 
memory, if sold, to have purchased a good farm. But yet, the soil is 
no better now than it was on the day that the old man condemned 
it in my hearing. It was Thomas G. Hazard who first used sea 
weed in Rhode Island for manure. He then lived a little south 
of the compact part of the town of Newport. I have heard him 
say that land was a free agent, and that it recognized the step of 
the farmer who treated it Aveli, and Avould yield its produce to 
such a one under the same circumstances, Avhen it Avould Avithhold 
it from a dishonest land-skinner, Avho habitually treated it ill and 
robbed it. I have thought myself that there might be something 
in the old man's theory Avorthy of reflection. Thomas G. Hazard 



15 

used to take an hohest pride in the goodness of his land, and in 
his latter years was one day boasting to the late Nichols Haz- 
ard of Newport, of the quantity of stock a certain lot he possessed 
would keep. "Why," said Nichols, "that number of cattle 
uncle, would eat all the feed off of such a lot in one day." 
True, Coz, replied the old man, but then let me tell you that 
whilst after this the cattle were lying down to rest the grass 
would all grow up again. 

Some farmers seem to have a great spite against weeds, more 
especially after they get well grown, and have imbibed the rich- 
est portion of their land. Having compassionately spared them 
in their infancy, they now make war on the " pocky things," and 
set their boys to throw them all into the road. This, perhaps, 
is done of a morning previous to despatching the team to the 
beach after a load of another description of weeds that grow in 
the sea, and which, when brought home, after nearly a day's toil 
of man and team, will not probably nearly compensate for the 
manure just thrown into the road in the shape of fat, richly seed- 
ed weeds, considered valueless merely for the reason, seeminglyj 
that they have been produced at home. Such farmers do not 
seem to reflect that just in proportion that weeds, or any other 
crop, exhausts the soil just in the same proportion it enriches it if 
returned again. Besides this, if well cured there is scarce a weed 
that does not make excellent food for stock, especially for sheep. 
Providence has created nothing in vain — every thing has its use. 
If every farmer was careful to cut all the weeds that grow about 
his walls and yards and preserve them for winter, and then oc- 
casionally give them to his stock, the health and lives of many 
valuable animals would probably be preserved thereby. Some 
farmers take pains to pull up their corn stubbs with the dung 
embraced by the roots, and tip them in some bog hole or in the 
road. Some take up the refuse corn tops In the spring from the 
ground on which they had been foddered, and burn them up or 
put them in some cart path or road. Some serve their potato 



16 

vines in the same way, and even some their refuse onions. I 
have no hints to offer for the consideration of such farmers as 
these. They are past all hope. 

I have been trying to think of some article that will not make 
manure, but I cannot at present think of any, unless it be an^j 
icicle, and I believe that I may be at fault even here. The late 
David Buffum, a good farmer and a close observer, used to say 
that " rain was the manure of poor land.'''' In fact, I believe 
that everything may be made into manure. Glass bottles are a 
first rate manure. Glass contains from 20 to 40 per cent, of pot- 
ash — a most powerful manure. A barrel of ground glass would 
probably be worth a ton of sea weed applied to the soil. G round 
granite rock is a capital manure for clay soils. Some farmers 
carefully pick up all the shells, bones, old boots, rags, hats, &c., 
&c., that accumulate in their back yards, and tuck them into 
some corner and there suffer them to remain, an unsightly ill-sa- .- 
vored heap of rubbish. My practice has ever been to plough guch ; 
rubbish under the soil, where most of it soon rots into good manure. 
Wool is a most powerful manure, and consequently all old 
woolen garments, hats, &c. Feathers, I consider to be worth as 
much, pound for pound, as the best of guano, so is hair of all 
kinds — even old leather will turn into hide again if buried in the ' 
soil. Shells are an excellent manure, mark where they lay thick 
in the soil you will always find it rich, even though they were " 
placed there by the Indians a century ago. Bones are a most 
enriching manure, especially if ground or pounded. No farmer 
should ever throw them from his land. I ahvays spread what ac- 
cumulates on my farm with the manure. I plough them in. 
When my land is laid down with oats and grass seed, I generally 
pass over the field with hoe in hand to smooth the corners, &c., 
and when I see a bone above ground I dig a hole and bury it just 
beneath the surface — ^that spot will not wear out soon, depend upon 
it. It is a trifle to be sure, but then it is so much saved and 
nothing lost, and that is the side of the fence to keep on in order 



17 

to prospei". Never waste if it is but a pin. Better give a dollar 
than waste a penny — you will prosper better. It has been my 
custom to mingle round turnip seed with hay seed and to sow it 
with my oats, for late feed for sheep, (also with my corn at sec- 
ond hoeing.) After the crop of oats is removed, they frequently 
grow well. On one occasion, in passing over my oat stubble I 
observed a huge turnip, some four or five times as large as its fel- 
lows. I had the curiosity to look for the cause, and found that 
its' tap root was inserted in the eye hole of a creature's skull that 
lay buried beneath. Ground bones and wood ashes are probably 
two of the most valuable manures known, and have never been 
fully appreciated as yet by our farmers. The dead bone will 
make its living fellow — the ashes of a tree will grow the tree 
again; I want our farmers to think of these things. 

I think that every farmer should have barn room enough to 
hold all his hay — and stable and shed room enough to hold all his 
stock. I am about satisfied that twenty tons of hay, put under 
cover immediately after it is mowed, is worth about as much /or 
fodder as one third more that quantity put in stacks. Besides 
this, I think that it can be more cheaply done. When a load of 
hay is once in the mow, the work is done ; — when it is put in 
stacks it is but the beginning of the end : hours are spent in 
topping — in raking — in cutting — in hanging — in fencing — and 
frequently, in topping again. Besides this, it wastes in every way 
— on the top, on the sides, on the bottom. A stack of four or 
five tons will wear away half a ton per annum, by the mere 
action of the weather, and damage nearly as much more within 
the surface. All this may be remedied by putting it at once in the 
barn. Besides, if it is fed on the ground its flavor evaporates, or 
it blows away — sometimes clean out of the field, in spite of the 
hungry creatures that follow it in full chase : away it goes ; 
rolling and rolling over snow-banks and walls until it reaches a 
bramble bush, or tumbles into the ocean, whilst the half*starved 
ftnimal, from whose jaws it has escaped, stands staring in amaze- 
3 



18 

inent at its astonishing speed. If you move the stack to the barn, 
the hay is greatly injured by the handling — especially if the 
weather be dry and windy ; and it is two chances to one that 
something will occur to prevent all of its removal on the same 
day, when on the next morning you may find the stack bottom 
buried in a snow-bank, or saturated to the ground with an ava- 
lanche of rain water. 

Let farmers observe closely, and they w\ll find that on most 
farms, at least, the first cost, even of putting hay into a barn, is 
less than to stack it out — especially if they have their carts and 
waggons properly rigged. I do not doubt but that I made a clean 
saving of labor to the amount of ten dollars, the past season, by 
placitig on my waggon body a rough platform, by means of which 
a large load could safely be conveyed to the barn without the 
aid of stakes, and be much more readily put on and off, than 
where those incumberances are in the way. When hay is foddered 
in the barn, nothing need be lost, if the mangers are properly 
constructed — hay-seed and all, is saved. Not so when foddered 
on the ground ; — then a large portion of the seed or flower that 
shells is lost. In some parts of Maine, farmers always cease 
mowing when their barns are filled. 

Think of these things, farmers, and build your barns whilst lum- 
ber is to be had, and carpenters are yet willing to work. 

It is held by some that if you take a strong moist meadow and 
do not permit it to be fed at all, that one crop of hay can be an- 
nually removed therefrom without causing the soil to deteriorate 
— the after crop of grass being sufficient, through the shelter and 
nourishment it affords, to keep the land in good heart. I think 
this theory worthy of being tested by actual experiment, and am 
myself trying, on a small scale, its reliability. Three years 
since, in 1851, I sowed with oats and grass-seed, a field contain- 
ing about seven and two-thirds acres of land, that had been pre- 
viously planted with corn and potatoes, and well manured. I 
harvested seven stacks of oats from this field, which I estimated 



19 

to contain eighteen tons. The next year was a poor season 
(1852,) for grass — my other lots yielded far lighter crops than 
usual. The lot not fed, however, cut thirteen large loads, which 
I estimated to contain from eighteen to twenty tons. The same 
course has since been adhered to in not feeding the after growth ; 
and this season (1853,) the crop was immense — the largest, I 
think, that I ever saw taken from the same quantity of land. 
One-third of the crop, (as nearly as I could estimate by loads,) 
filled a little field barn, sixteen by fourteen, and thirteen feet 
posts, well stowed, to the peak. I called on your Committee to 
get them to look at this grass, whilst it lay in swarthe, and re- 
gretted very much that they could not make it convenient to call 
and see it. The lot was cut down by Daniel and Elisha Allen — 
two reliable young men, one or both of whom may be now pres- 
ent, and if so can give information, as regards the probable quan- 
tity, to any whose curiosity may prompt them to inquire. I do 
not, myself, think that the whole lot averaged less than three 
tons to the acre, although a small portion of it, from some cause, 
turned rather light. I do not, however, consider that the theory 
is fairly tested as yet, by any means, by my experiment. Like 
results for ten successive years might prove it true. 

As a general rule, I think it a good plan to feed rich mowing 
lands late in the Spring — say until nearly the first of Summer — 
so as to reduce the crop to one, or to one and a half tons to the 
acre — especially on our island, where, on most farms, every lot is 
equally well adapted for mowing or pasturage. Where grass is 
very large, the quality of the hay is not near as good as where it 
is less. When fed it seldom lodges, and is more easily cut and 
made in proportion to its quantity, one time with another, than 
when it is heavy and lodged. The early feed, too, thus obtained, 
is of great value to the farmer, as it enables him to get his pas- 
tures well started before the heat and drought of Summer com- 
mences. It is true that this practice occasionally causes a partial 
failure of the hay crop, when an early drought sets in — but this is 



20 

seldom experienced. From ""my observation, such a result has 
not occurred but twice in fourteen years. 

Most farmers on this island make too much hay for profit, as I 
think. More profit is to be made here from green grass than 
from dried — and much trouble saved. I have, for many years, 
been in the practice of sowing my oats as early as practicable, 
and then eating them down close with sheep, until about the 20th 
or 25th of the fifth month. This gives a good deal of early feed. 
The plant roots and succors out better — it grows stronger — heada 
heavier, and seldom lodges — and, on good land, the straw grows 
as big a? is profitable. Besides this, by keeping the growth 
of the oats down early in the season, the hay-seed gets better 
rooted and is not so easily choked out by the after growth 
of the grain ; and although the sheep apparently tread it badly, 
I do not think it is materially injured from that circumstance. It 
used to be told of an old farmer in Karragansett, that he never 
in his life raised but one good crop of coni ; and that was on an 
occasion when his sheep broke into his field, after the crop was some 
inches in height, and eat it close ofi" to the ground. After you 
laugh at this farmer, then think. ^ I think that Indian corn should 
be the great staple of Rhode Island ; raised not to sell, but to 
feed. I am clearly of the opinion that it can be raised, indepen- 
dent of husking and rent, for twenty cents per bushel, if fed. 
on the land. And why should it be husked, as a general rule 1 
Why not stack a large proportion of every crop — raised on 
frames, if necessary, to keep away the rats. In this shape feed 
it out to beef cattle, to hogs, to sheep — with young cattle to pick 
up the refuse, and pigs or poultry to follow after all. I have 
tried this plan on a small scale and have no reason to suppose 
that it may not be made profitable. If managed rightly, nothing 
need be lost. Fed in the husk, cattle manage it better than with 
it off, and the poultry will pick up all that is not thoroughly di- 
gested. They also scratch the manure about the land better than 
it can be beaten with a beetle. I think that almost every farmer 



21 

jnust be convinced, by a little examination that it will pay well 
to feed corn to sheep, the year round. I iu.nderstand that some of 
our sheep farmers — Thomas BufFum, for intstance — has sold his 
Jambs this season to slaughter, for four dollars, cash. How much, 
think you, was he paid per bushel for the corn fed to his ewes 7 
Not less than two dollars, I warrant you. Let some one try the 
experiment. One bushel and a half of corn Avill allow a gill of 
corn per day for a sheep the year round. Now take two lots of 
sheep, equal in all respects — say ten in each — give each lot the 
same keeping as to hay and grass. Give one lot, in addition to 
this, a gill of corn per head, on average, a day, the year through. 
Does any one doubt that this will add a pound to the weight of 
each fleece 7 Well, that is forty-five cents ; — seventy-five to the 
value of each lamb, and fifty cents to its own carcase. Now 
speak out, shepherds — is thjs statement overdrawn 7 Clearly 
not, but to the contrary. The sheep fed with grain will go be- 
yond these figures, over and above those kept exclusively on hay 
and grass — and what is the result. Let's see. Forty-five cents 
fleece, seventy-five for the lamb, fifty cents for increase of car- 
case. This makes one dollar and seventy cents for one bushel and 
half of corn, besides expending on the land some thirty or forty 
cents worth of manure, and adding to the flock some four or five 
additional twin lambs. Now, this sounds strange to many, I 
doubt not ; but it is, nevertheless, true. Shakespeare has well 
said, " Truth is si;range, stranger than fiction." Think of these 
things, fiirmers. 

Before the Revolutionary War this island was studded with trees 
— all the roads were lined with them. War — ruthless war — de- 
stroyed them nearly all. There seems, now, to be a disposition 
gaining ground to replace them. I trust the general sentiment 
in this thing will strengthen, and that the island roads will soon 
again be sheltered and shady. Some think that trees are an in- 
jury to the land — and no doubt that they are, so far as their 
roots and denser shade extends. But in all other respects they 



00 



are beneficial. Shelter is of itself a good manure lor land. And I 
am inclined to believe that if every lot on this island was completely 
surrounded with large trees, that so beneficial would be the addi- 
tional shelter from cold and high winds, that they would impart, 
that notwithstanding the partial loss of the land they occupied 
and shaded, the aggregate produce of the whole island would be 
increased rather than diminished by the circumstance. Above all 
thino-s, it would be beautiful to have all our roads lined with trees, 
bushes, and shrubs. I confess that I do not like to see, even 
briars, cut up from the roadside. It is well enough to keep a 
good foot-path open, but otherwise I would rather see the briars 
left for want of something better. They give a rural aspect to 
the island. They afibrd an occasional berry for the loitering school- 
boy, or the wary traveller^ (as the Middletown "green end" 
hotel has it in print) and occasionally a sparrow finds a nestling 
place beneath their shelter, for its young. In some country — 
I think Spain — it is the custom of the people to plant the seed 
or stone of the fruit they eat, as they pass along the roads. The 
consequence is, that their roads are lined with fruit trees. This 
is a beautiful custom for so wretched a people as the Spaniards 
undoubtedly are. The custom has grown out of the noble nature 
of the people — their wretchedness, out of the debasing character 
of their religion. I have thought what an improvement might be 
made on this island by the introduction of such a custom here. 
What quantities of apples, of pears, of cherries, of currants, of 
gooseberries, of raspberries and blackberries — and here and there, 
in a sunny nook, of peaches and plumbs — might be raised with- 
out cost, to gladden the hearts of future pedestrians. And why 
mio^ht not farmers, in planting trees in the road, occasionally in- 
sert a fruit tree of some kind, and dedicate its product to the 
public \ It Avould cost him no more than any other tree, and 
would be equally ornamental and far more productive. Think of 
this. One mere hint and I have done. Let the birds alone. It 
is q, cruel pratice to kill them, and especially savage when tbey 



23 

have young. Besides, it is impolitic ; — they do far more good 
than harm. If they eat occasionally a grain of corn, they swal- 
low thousands of worms that would otherwise destroy a vast deal 
many more — and besides, a little tobacco water, or tar, will pre- 
vent this. If they eat our cherries, they preserve our apples. I 
have an orchard that I have never known infested with canker 
worms, although the trees of my neighbors have been often de- 
stroyed by them. I have never used any other precaution against 
their ravages, than to let the birds alone. I have never allowed 
any shooting on my grounds, and the consequence is, that thous- 
ands of birds seek shelter there. It is true that they eat my 
cherries ; but they amply repay my family for the theft, in mel- 
ody, and preserve my apples from the canker worm, besides. — 
" Get thee gone," said my uncle Toby, (as he slowly opened the 
window) to an overgrown fly, that had been buzzing about his 
nose and tormenting him all dinner time. " Get thee gone, poor 
devil — why should I hurt thee? — surely, the world is wide 
enough to contain both thee and me." And why should we hurt 
the birds 7 — the world is surely wide enough to contain both them 
and us. For my part, I wish there were ten where there is now 
one. It is astonishing how little attention some christian parents 
pay to teaching their children humanity. Such will drive their 
horses to death to be in season to hear the first word of the ser- 
mon, and at the same time their hopeful son may wantonly shoot 
a harmless bird before his father's eyes, and leaves its young to 
perish with hunger, without receiving a word of reproof Both 
humane and cruel acts, even apparently of small moment, I be- 
lieve, often meet with recompense even in this world. A man 
once told me that he did not doubt that the life of his child was 
once spared to him on account of his humanity to a calf — under 
the following circumstances : He was walking sorrowfully in the 
streets of Philadelphia, at a time when his infant son was lying, 
as was thought, at the point of death. A man passed with a cart, 
in which there lay a calf, tied in a painful position. He asked 



2'4 

the man to stop, and tten relieved the calf, -when it was borne up- 
on his mind that the humane act, trifling as it was, should be 
rewarded by the life of his child. He returned to his house, found 
his child reviving, and it soon recovered. I have heard, too, of a 
wealthy man in the north of England, who, on a cold winter's 
day, observed an old, thinly clad woman, pulling dead brush from 
his hedge. He harshly ordered her to put down what sticks she 
had gathered, and to go away. In agony of spirit, the poor wo- 
man fell upon her knees and fervently prayed that the hard-heart- 
ed man might never again know warmth. He immediately began 
to shiver with cold, and continued to do so in spite of loads of 
clothing, until he died. 

One more and I have done : A boy was once standing near a 
tree, in th« branches of which was a nest of young birds, whose 
parent was hovering near Avith food for its young, but was deter- 
red from approaching the nest by the presence of the stranger. 
The boy, being annoyed by the cries of the hungry brood, vowed 
to silence their noise, and, climbing the tree, he took the unfledged 
younglings from their nest, and tearing their tongues from their 
throats, again replaced them. He grew to manhood, married, and 
became the father of precisely the same number of children as 
there were of the young birds he had so ruthlessly tortured, not 
one of whom ever spoke — they were all deaf and dumb from their 
birth, and so ever remained. The wretched father ever felt and 
acknowledged his affliction was a just judgment from Heaven for 
his dreadful act of cruelty. Boys, yea, and men, too, take warn-' 
ing of this, and let the birds alone.- I have said my say. 



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